Wind gusts up to 75 mph were recorded at the Pocatello Regional Airport and in the city of Chubbuck causing power outages, 60 foot trees downed and store signs were destroyed.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.
Wind gusts up to 75 mph were recorded at the Pocatello Regional Airport and in the city of Chubbuck causing power outages, 60 foot trees downed and store signs were destroyed.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 4, 2:52 PM MST, 3 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 252 PM MST FRI JAN 4 2008 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY. VERY DEEP AND POWERFUL WINTER STORM LOCATED JUST OFF WA/OR COAST CONTINUES TO PUSH E-NE WITH EXTENSIVE MOISTURE SHIELD NOW MOVING INTO ERN IDAHO. STORM IS EASILY THE STRONGEST WE HAVE SEEN THIS SEASON SO FAR WITH A MIN 500MB HEIGHT OF AN ARCTIC-LIKE 5030 METERS. THE DEEP CORE LOW IS GENERATING A VERY STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS CWA RESULTING IN WINDS GUSTING IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH OVER THE SRN HIGHLANDS AND SNAKE PLAIN SOUTHWEST OF BLACKFOOT-TO-ARCO LINE...PROMPTING WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES 17 AND 21 THRU THIS EVE. LATEST RADAR SHOWS AREA OF LIGHT RAIN IN ERN MAGIC VALLEY AND LIGHT SNOW IN CENTRAL MTNS THAT WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND THIS AFTN AND EVE AS MORE MOISTURE ARRIVES AND CWA REMAINS IN DIFFLUENT ZONE ALOFT AHEAD OF THE UPPER TROF AXIS. EXPECT RAIN/SNOW MIX TO CONTINUE AS WELL...AS STRONG WARM AIR ADVECTION SPREADS OVER THE REGION...PUSHING SNOW LEVELS ABOVE 6000 FT. 12Z MODELS WERE CONSISTENT IN KEEPING HIGHEST QPFS ACROSS CENTRAL MTNS AND UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS TONIGHT AND EARLY SAT...WITH SECONDARY MAX IN CARIBOU/NRN WASATCH MTNS FOR TOMORROW. MADE NO CHANGES TO GOING HIGHLIGHTS...TIMING AND SNOW FALL TOTALS STILL LOOKING GOOD. ONLY PROBLEM AREA IS UPPER SNAKE VALLEY WHERE LOW LEVEL COLD AIRMASS ERODED VERY LITTLE THRU 2PM TODAY...SETTING UP POSSIBILITY OF SPOTTY FREEZING PRECIP EVENT FOR TONIGHT...SO KEPT WINTER WX ADVISORY IN PLACE FOR ZONE 20. COLD FRONT FROM THE PAC STORM SYSTEM WILL PUSH THRU CWA EARLY SAT MORNING...BRINGING IN COLDER AIRMASS AT ALL LEVELS AND CHANGING ALL PRECIP TO SNOW. GIVEN SIZE OF THIS STORM...IT WILL TAKE A WHILE FOR THE ENTIRE UPPER CYCLONIC FLOW AREA TO MOVE ACROSS ERN ID. WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE BEHIND THE TROF AXIS...CWA WILL SEE PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY BUT COVERAGE WILL BE SPOTTY AND ACCUMS WILL BE LIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL STAY COLD THRU THE WEEKEND WITH HIGHS ONLY IN MID 20S ON SUN/MON. WARANAUSKAS && .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. WEAK ENERGY CONTINUES TO SLIDE ACROSS WEAK DIRTY RIDGE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY WITH STRONGER TROUGH PUNCHING INTO COAST BY TUESDAY NIGHT. GFS AND ECMWF MAINTAIN PROGRESSIVE FLOW WITH SYSTEM PUSHING ACROSS IDAHO THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. HAVE MAINTAINED UNSETTLED POPS ACROSS FCST AREA THROUGH THIS TIME WITH A NOD TOWARD CLIMO. MODELS AGREE IN TRYING TO BUILD RIDGE INTO PACNW LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...AND THUS CONTINUED TREND TOWARD DRYING. IN ALL...MADE ONLY A FEW MINOR CHANGES. DMH && .AVIATION...STRONG PACIFIC SYSTEM CONTINUES TO COMPLICATE PATTERN ACROSS IDAHO THIS AFTERNOON. VERY WINDY CONDITIONS CONTINUE IN PORTIONS OF SNAKE RIVER VALLEY...WITH GUSTS OVER 40KTS KPIH AND WEST. PRECIP BAND PUSHING INTO REGION AS WELL...AND SHOULD SEE CONDITIONS WORSEN TO IFR AT KSUN BY NIGHTFALL WITH SNOW. REST OF TAF SITES SHOULD STAY LARGELY DRY...OUTSIDE OF A STRAY SHOWER...UNTIL FRONT PASSES THROUGH EARLY SAT MORNING. EXPECT SHARP DROP IN TEMPS...WIND SHIFT TO WEST...AND CHANGE FROM RAIN TO SNOW WITH ASSOCIATED DROP IN CEILINGS TO IFR OR MVFR FOR VALLEY SITES AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE. DMH && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 AM MST SATURDAY FOR IDZ021. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM MST SUNDAY FOR IDZ020. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST SATURDAY NIGHT FOR IDZ019-023-025. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 PM MST SATURDAY FOR IDZ018-031. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST TONIGHT FOR IDZ017. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 445 AM MST FRI JAN 4 2008 IDZ017>025-031-032-051200- EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY-SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS-UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS- UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN- SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-CARIBOU HIGHLANDS- CACHE VALLEY/IDAHO PORTION-WASATCH MOUNTAINS/IDAHO PORTION- BIG AND LITTLE WOOD RIVER REGION-LOST RIVER/PAHSIMEROI- 445 AM MST FRI JAN 4 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN IDAHO. CHECK THE LATEST URGENT WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR DETAILS. A MOIST PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING RAIN AND SNOW TO THE GEM STATE...ALONG WITH HIGH WIND. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WINTER STORM WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN IDAHO. CHECK THE LATEST URGENT WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE FOR DETAILS. EACH 12 HOUR PERIOD IN THIS TIME FRAME HAS A THREAT OF MORE SNOW AS LOW PRESSURE REMAINS ANCHORED OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WE ASK TRAINED SPOTTERS AND CITIZENS TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. THESE CONDITIONS MAY INCLUDE HAIL...TORNADOES...STRONG WIND...DUST STORMS...SNOWFALL... EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES...FREEZING RAIN OR HEAVY RAIN...DENSE FOG...AND FLOODING OR ICE JAMS. INFORMATION ABOUT THESE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS SHOULD BE CALLED INTO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN POCATELLO USING THE 1-800 SEVERE WEATHER HOTLINE...OR 208-233-0834. MESSICK
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
501 PM MST FRI JAN 04 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0500 PM BLIZZARD N MACKAY 43.91N 113.61W
01/04/2008 CUSTER ID TRAINED SPOTTER
BLOWING SNOW IN GUSTY WINDS 20-30 MPH. VISIBILITY 1/4 OR
LESS. NEW SNOW AMOUNTS ESTIMATED AT 3 TO 4 INCHES.
&&
PANGEL1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts up to 75 mph were recorded at the POcatello REgional Airport and in the city of Chubbuck causing power outages, 60 foot trees downed and store signs were destroyed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, January 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 78863.